“Our mom always had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye,” Emily Coen says of her late mother, Sue Gallop. “Her energy was so positive. Everyone was drawn to her light.”
At the heart of Sue Gallop’s warm nature was a desire to give to others, whether it be through teaching English as a second language, reaching out to new members of the community or passing on a legacy of love to her grandchildren.
“I can’t tell you how many people have told me that Mom was the first person to invite them over for a meal when they moved to town,” Emily says. “No one was a stranger to her.”
Sue also shared with her late husband Don an unwavering belief in giving back to the community. Both supported cancer research at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in the hope of helping others beat the terrible disease that took the life of Sue’s mother; Don’s mother, father, and paternal grandparents; and, ultimately, Don.
Even when Sue found herself fighting cancer in the spring of 2009, her light did not dim.
“She continued to teach people through her power of optimism even when she was sick,” her daughter Betsy Gallop Dennis says. “A month before Mom died, she celebrated what would have been her and Dad’s 50th anniversary by writing all the grandchildren a letter describing the ‘love affair’ she’d had with their grandfather.”
Nothing was more important to Sue than seeing the joy of giving spark in her nine grandchildren, who called her “Su Su.” This past summer, some of the grandkids decided to open a lemonade stand “to help Su Su’s disease.”
“It was right on the corner of our street,” Emily said. “The neighbor kids got involved. They made posters, they had a loud speaker….it was quite the big deal! Grandma was very proud and excited about it.”
When Sue passed away in September 2009, more than 160 tribute gifts in her memory totaling $13,275.00 poured into the Sue Ellen and Donald Gallop Fund for Cancer Research of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation.
“Mom lived a healthy, vibrant life, and her death from lung cancer does not end her legacy,” Betsy says. “The people who knew her and loved her made these gifts because cancer has to be cured.”
“Mom would be so touched by these tribute gifts because she and Dad were very committed to Barnes-Jewish Hospital and to cancer research,” Emily added. “These gifts honor her giving spirit.”
And perhaps no tribute honors Su Su more than the $100 gift “From the Lemonade Stand of the Grandchildren of Sue Gallop.
From Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation Tributes Newsletter--Winter 2010